Drug Hate and the Corruption of American Justice

Drug Hate and the Corruption of American Justice

Synopsis

The hatred of drugs, according to this book, is the axis of politics that has fundamentally shifted the nation's policy format--from the progressive orientation that dominated from the time of Roosevelt to the Sixties, to the punitive orientation that emerged during the Nixon presidency and continues to this day. This triumph of the political use of drug hate is simultaneously a disaster in policy consequences as it corrupts the criminal justice system, exacerbates class inequality, drains public resources, and denies the public their Constitutional heritage. Sadofsky Baggins shows that the political success of the domestic war has overwhelmed the policy failure in the nation's deliberations.

Excerpt

Hate is a powerful organizing force in politics. Hate provides a distinction between "us" and "them" that allows a nation to define its nature and its cause. Inquisitions, crusades and prohibitions allow for powerful leadership to emerge and steer the nation toward a promised purity on a straight and narrow path that usually advances the particular interests of the ruling coalition.

Traditional white religious America came to feel under assault during the decades of civil rights marches, peace protests, and sex, drugs and rock and roll. Racial groups who once accepted their lesser status rebelled and assailed a segregated normalcy that was comfortable to many. Younger blacks suffered the full brunt of this deep lingering racism as incarceration rates soared under the authority of drug policy in following decades. the military, once the proud defenders against the communist menace, was ridiculed by a loud and often purposefully obnoxious dope-smoking peace movement. Many persons who defined themselves as patriots felt this behavior deserved harsh response. As the counter-culture receded, a new era of criminal "justice" accordingly set in. the federal government . . .